]]>Netflix announced today that they are going to raise prices by 13 – 18%. This is the company’s largest increase since launching its streaming service 12 years ago. The price increase takes effect immediately for new customers. Existing subscribers will be grandfathered in over the next three months.

Raising prices of course does not come without risk. Higher prices have the potential to turnoff subscribers and potentially even result in mass cancellations. In 2011 Netflix unbundled video streaming from its DVD mail service and added a 60 percent price increase for customers who wanted to keep both plans. The company faced a huge backlash resulting in a loss of 600,000 subscribers.

But this is 2019 and Netflix has a number of its own hit shows and movies it didn’t have eight years ago including ”Stranger Things,” “Ozark” ”Orange Is the New Black,” “Narcos” and of course everyone’s movie-to-meme favorite, “Bird Box.” Plus, Netflix has something else going on: great customer service. Some of the company’s customer service stories, like the Star Trek chat exchange an agent had with a customer, are the stuff of legend. And this is the Ace up Netflix’s sleeve.

In the 2018 Aspect Consumer Experience Index survey, 56% of consumers said they would pay 5-10% more for a product or service if they received exceptional customer service from the company they were doing business with. Plus, a solid two-thirds of consumers reported doing more business with at least one company in 2018 because of good customer service.

A solid reputation of great customer support is a vital foundation when facing competitive threats or when prices need to be raised. Fortunately for Netflix, as they face both simultaneously, they have a solid history of treating their customers right.

]]>69714When I grow up, I want to be Customer Experience Pioneer Jeanne Blisshttps://blogs.aspect.com/when-i-grow-up-i-want-to-be-customer-experience-pioneer-jeanne-bliss/
https://blogs.aspect.com/when-i-grow-up-i-want-to-be-customer-experience-pioneer-jeanne-bliss/#respondTue, 19 Mar 2019 15:39:47 +0000http://blogs.aspect.com/?p=70784Okay, if I can’t be her, then I want her to keynote ACE 2019 – and guess what, SHE IS! I’ll admit that I have been a long-time fan of Jeanne and her podcast series The Human Duct Tape Show, but throughout our keynote evaluation process, ...

]]>Okay, if I can’t be her, then I want her to keynote ACE 2019 – and guess what, SHE IS! I’ll admit that I have been a long-time fan of Jeanne and her podcast series The Human Duct Tape Show, but throughout our keynote evaluation process, it’s safe to say that I now self-identify as a Jeanne Bliss groupie! That’s right, the woman who for years has been helping companies develop strategies to become “beloved companies” got me to fall in love. She’s just that good.

When we started to zero in on Jeanne, I grabbed a copy of her book, I Love You More Than My Dog to dig deeper into her methodology. On a side note, my 11-year-old told me that I couldn’t read the book because we do not have a dog, so I wouldn’t understand the meaning. I believe she thought perhaps this would be the argument that may just get me to drive to the pound and pick up a puppy. Unfortunately for her, it did not work. So on a Friday night I picked up Jeanne’s book. I found myself folding corners and marking up the pages. To buy into the book’s thesis, you must agree that “we naturally gravitate to companies and people with whom we connect in a human and sincere manner.” She backs this up with several defenses some based in business outcomes, some based in brain science, all leading me to believe there is truth to Jeanne’s assertion.

Jeanne outlines five decisions beloved companies make as the common differentiator for beloved companies:

“They decide to believe. They decide with clarity of purpose. They decide to be real. They decide to be there. They decide to say sorry.”

The bulk of the book is set up as a series of questions and case studies of how beloved companies have actively embodied these five decisions in how they engage with customers and employees. Questions like “What’s your power source for bonding with customers?” with an example of how Trader Joe’s developed the “taste bud rule” to ensure that the customers had a voice in the products that lines the shelves. And one I think is particularly poignant for our customers, “are you hiring partners, or filing positions?” The example given here describes how Chick-fil-A focuses on the applicant’s ability to cultivate relationships as a core capability for hire. The exercises are fun and easy to do. At the end of the book you should have the building blocks to begin to further define “what you want your story to say about who you are and what you value.”

My favorite story Jeanne tells is one that argues, “the moment of greatness is NOT the action. It’s the decision that allows the action to occur.” She describes the decision made by Gary Comer, the founder of Lands’ End, to personally thank the people who made his business grow and prosper – his entire workforce. I won’t spoil all the details, but suffice to say, his decision led to actions that touched each and every employee in a very unique way, and to quote Jeanne, “sent shivers down my spine. I was a part of this.”

I encourage you to check out Jeanne’s podcast, grab one of her best sellers, and reserve your seat at ACE 2019 to see her live and in-person. Join me and the rest of her groupies in the front row on July 30! Oh, and no surprise here, Jeanne has also graciously agreed to join our Women In Technology Panel that will take place in the lunch session following her keynote. See you there!

]]>https://blogs.aspect.com/when-i-grow-up-i-want-to-be-customer-experience-pioneer-jeanne-bliss/feed/070784ACE 2019: It’s Go Time!https://blogs.aspect.com/ace-2019-its-go-time/
https://blogs.aspect.com/ace-2019-its-go-time/#commentsFri, 08 Mar 2019 14:00:21 +0000http://blogs.aspect.com/?p=70604You may be familiar with ACE, our annual user conference. But what you think you know is about to be turned on its head.

This is a new Aspect, and it’s a new ACE. We’re doing things differently. Instead of sticking with the status quo, we’re ...

]]>You may be familiar with ACE, our annual user conference. But what you think you know is about to be turned on its head.

This is a new Aspect, and it’s a new ACE. We’re doing things differently. Instead of sticking with the status quo, we’re shaking things up and supercharging the conference based on feedback from past attendees.

One of the things we’re most excited about for ACE 2019, which will be held at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, July 29 – August 1, is our revamped agenda. It features four distinct and focused session tracks geared toward topics that matter the most you.

Here’s a snapshot of what you can expect in each track:

NEW Aspect Master Program: For the first time ever at ACE, we’re dedicating an entire session track to helping you earn a Specialist Certification in either WFO Volume Forecasting or IVR Design for CXP Premise, valued at $750—plus a free voucher for the next-level certification exam (additional $100 value). Open to the first 100 paid attendees.

Get More out of Your Aspect Solution: A host of interactive breakout sessions will provide hands-on, real-world strategies designed to help you fully optimize the solutions you own now.

Industry Insights and Roadmaps: In these seminars, you’ll learn how to future-proof your organization by gaining a clear understanding of the capabilities you’ll need for the short- and long-term future.

Making it Work: This technical deep-dive track focuses on maximizing the stability and performance of your platform. Our architects and developers will discuss APIs, security, solution architecture, customizations, integrations and much more.

Additionally, we’re including extended networking opportunities that will empower you to make more connections and build a stronger professional network.

Ready to go for it? Register soon to take advantage of our Super Early-Bird rate. You’ll save $280 when you register by March 31st.

Learn more about ACE 2019 here. I’m looking forward to seeing you there!

]]>https://blogs.aspect.com/ace-2019-its-go-time/feed/170604Aberdeen Report: Omni-Channel Customer Care: How to Delight Your Empowered Customershttps://blogs.aspect.com/aberdeen-report-omni-channel-customer-care-how-to-delight-your-empowered-customers/
Fri, 09 Nov 2018 13:00:40 +0000http://blogs.aspect.com/?p=67984Yesterday I got an email from my Flexible Spending Account (FSA) provider. An FSA is a special account you put pre-tax money in that allows you to pay for certain out-of-pocket health care costs. There are specific rules for how the money can be spent ...

]]>Yesterday I got an email from my Flexible Spending Account (FSA) provider. An FSA is a special account you put pre-tax money in that allows you to pay for certain out-of-pocket health care costs. There are specific rules for how the money can be spent and sometimes the provider may need additional documentation to ensure the “purchase” qualifies. Apparently my provider is in need of that documentation and in the meantime, my FSA card is suspended.

As the clock ticks toward the end of the year, and the potential for me to lose the remaining money in my account, makes resolving this as soon as possible a priority for me. I’m not sure what the issue is. I didn’t recognize a transaction for the dollar amount included in the email. My first instinct was to reply to the email. I was out of luck. At the bottom of the email I read: Please do not reply to this email. Strike one.

I logged into my account to see if I could figure things out on my own. I can see my transactions — although I don’t see anything that even adds up to the dollar amount in question. After digging around a little more, I drilled down a few levels and finally found their contact options. Or should I say “option”? Making a phone call is the only way to contact support for help. Strike two.

I’m working on a few projects with fast approaching deadlines and while I know I need to get this issue resolved, I don’t feel like I have the time to call and focus on waiting, listening and taking notes. An email or text option would at least let me get the ball rolling on my terms. Unfortunately, I can’t do that. Strike three.

It seems this particular company is behind the times.

In an effort to shed light on how to best use a variety of channels to address customer expectations, Aberdeen surveyed 445 contact centers around the world regarding key trends and best practices for their recently released report,Omni-Channel Customer Care: How to Delight Your Empowered Customers. The report outlines the changes in channel adoption for contact centers and the reasons driving it.

The report found that 55% of contact centers — almost one out of two businesses have a channel mix. It’s no surprise that traditional channels like phone and web have high adoption rates, however relatively newer channels like social media and text messaging have also been adopted by almost half of the respondents.

Get this report for additional statistics and to learn the benefits of using multiple channels to address customer issues in a consistent and personalized manner. You’ll also get a better understanding of how best-in-class companies are building and nurturing successful omni-channel programs.

Meanwhile, I’ll be over here begrudgingly making a phone call to get my issue resolved.

]]>67984Your 2019 Guide to Moving Your Call Center to the Cloudhttps://blogs.aspect.com/your-2019-guide-to-moving-your-call-center-to-the-cloud/
Mon, 05 Nov 2018 13:00:14 +0000http://blogs.aspect.com/?p=67904Global market intelligence firm International Data Corporation predicts that by 2020, 67% of enterprise infrastructure and software spending will be for cloud-based offerings. Are you considering moving your contact center to the cloud? With 2019 less than 60 days away it may be time to ...

]]>Global market intelligence firm International Data Corporation predicts that by 2020, 67% of enterprise infrastructure and software spending will be for cloud-based offerings. Are you considering moving your contact center to the cloud? With 2019 less than 60 days away it may be time to ask yourself what you’re waiting for.

As you start planning to move your contact center to the cloud, there are five considerations worth digging into.

Do You Have Budget Restrictions?

If you’re on a tight budget, you may be concerned that a new system will break the bank. True, the significant upfront costs of a premise solution may be more than you can afford. However, moving to the cloud can save you money since a cloud contact center is an OPEX cost there is no upfront CAPEX cost.

Do variations in call volume make it difficult to staff the right number of agents at the right time?

Premise systems make scaling quickly and affordably more difficult that it should be. Many contact centers carry additional seats at great expense to accommodate unexpected call volume. A cloud contact center makes scaling, both up and down, easy and more importantly, more affordable.

Do You Face Challenges Created by Outdated Software and Infrequent Updates?

Budget restrictions (see #1) can mean there isn’t enough money in the kitty to update your premise system to the latest software. Or, your hardware is out of date and it’s too expensive to upgrade. One of the many benefits of the cloud include always having the most recent software version and there is no hardware to update. Do you know what that means? You’re saving money from the word go.

Is Securing Customer Data a Priority?

We all know securing customer data is important. But oftentimes, technical and budget challenges prevent this from becoming a reality. Maintaining compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard and HIPAA can prove to be a challenge for premise systems. Cloud contact centers are always up to date to help you keep customer data secure with SSL encrypted IP sessions, encrypted call initiation and RADIUS authentication.

Does Downtime Negatively Impact Your Business?

When your contact center goes down, agents stand by while customers grow increasingly frustrated, unable to connect to your organization. That sounds expensive! Uptime is important to maintain your bottom line. If you’re considering a move to the cloud, be sure your service is protected with an SLA.

If your current premise system is creating limitations that may be hurting your bottom line, there is no better time to move to the cloud. A cloud solution can provide small changes that could make a big difference for your contact center.

]]>67904Millennials and the Work Ethichttps://blogs.aspect.com/millennials-and-the-work-ethic/
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 19:05:25 +0000http://blogs.aspect.com/?p=67794Millennials were born between 1976 and 2001. They are very different from their doting baby boomer parents. Millennials are tech savvy, skilled at multitasking, great at working in teams, and eager to please. They are also accustomed to being pampered both at home and at ...

]]>Millennials were born between 1976 and 2001. They are very different from their doting baby boomer parents. Millennials are tech savvy, skilled at multitasking, great at working in teams, and eager to please. They are also accustomed to being pampered both at home and at school. Dan Schawbel, author of Me 2.0 and founder of the research and consulting firm, Millennial Branding, describes them this way, ”self-centered, needy, and entitled with unrealistic work expectations.” Given Mr. Schawbel’s comments and an extensive body of research, it is fair to assume that Millennials won’t exactly be nose-to-the-grindstone at work. Work ethic notwithstanding, there are about 80 million of them today. They are the workforce, and contact centers may be an excellent fit for their skills and aspirations.

For example, work life balance is number one on their list of priorities. Millennials may have second jobs or are involved in social causes. Contact center work provides some flexibility and a good blend of structure and variety in a collaborative work environment. Millennials love technology. They were the first generation to grow up with iPhones and social media. Ninety percent of them sleep with their smart phones. If you like technology, contact centers are where the action is.

Here are some tips on how contact centers can deploy today’s technology to achieve performance goals while at the same time attracting and retaining millennial workers;

Modern well-designed user interfaces – Millennials spend hours on computers and smart phones. They know what a user interface is supposed to look like and how navigation should work. Aspect Software, for example, has designed its contact center software user interfaces based on the best UI practices of Apple, Google, and Microsoft.

Leverage smart phones – Any Millennial without a smart phone risks getting tossed out of the generation. They live on these devices, and leading software vendors have developed applications that use smart phones to simplify schedule management and communications.

Omni-channel communications– Millennials are the consummate multitaskers. They are masters at texting, chatting, emailing, facetiming, and navigating social media. Though rare, they have been known to communicate by voice. Contact centers need people that are equally skilled in all forms of communication.

Frequent and fair evaluations– Accustomed to report cards and kind words from teachers and parents, Millennials have come to expect feedback (preferably favorable.) An advantage of contact center work is frequent quality monitoring evaluations. Even better are software solutions that automate much of the QM process and provide feedback more quickly and sometimes more objectively than supervisor reviews.

Workforce scheduling and forecasting – Modern workforce management systems take employee preferences and skill sets into account when building schedules. Aspect Workforce Management empowers agents with a wealth of self-service options including web-based, smart phone, IVR or even using an intelligent personal assistant chatbot.

Remote agents – With their love of work/life balance, Millennials have been quick to embrace the so-called “gig economy” that permits very flexible work schedules. Aspect WFM is unique in the marketplace with its ability to allow short contact center work gigs integrated with traditional work schedules.

Given that by the year 2020 Millennials are expected to comprise 46% of the labor force, employers must adapt to their preferences rather than the other way around. Contact center work offers many of the qualities that Millennials seek and could provide a welcome solution to a looming labor shortage.

]]>67794Workforce planning in a Gig Economyhttps://blogs.aspect.com/workforce-planning-in-a-gig-economy/
Tue, 23 Oct 2018 20:12:30 +0000http://blogs.aspect.com/?p=67444While contact center agents might be ready to jump head first into the gig economy, contact center management is a bit more reluctant, and for good reason. Having on-demand customer service agents isn’t as simple as engaging drivers for Uber. Before making the transition to ...

]]>While contact center agents might be ready to jump head first into the gig economy, contact center management is a bit more reluctant, and for good reason. Having on-demand customer service agents isn’t as simple as engaging drivers for Uber. Before making the transition to gig workers, it is important to explore the differences between managing employee-agents and on-demand agents.

Gig workers are likely to be:

More challenging to train (limited to online training typically). If training isn’t handled property, access to training could be part of a retention strategy

Less tenured and less likely to earn tenure

Less likely to have same levels of loyalty as an employee

Motivated by access to more hours, or preferred times

Gig workers will also tend to be:

Cheaper

Easier to acquire

More flexible

Beyond the mindset differences, there are other unique challenges to managing gig contact center agents that companies must address before they look at an on-demand agent model.

It all starts with a sound technology foundation. Real-time adherence data and alarms are critically important in a Gig Economy environment because your staff will not be standard. Gig economy workers typically do not have formally scheduled non-working times such as breaks or vacation time, sick time, etc. When forecasting, don’t inflate staff requirement by applying staff shrinkage predictions for these types of activities. Shrinkage types such as non-vacation absence, unproductive will apply. There may be types of staff shrinkage unique to these workers. WFM acts as a filter and arbiter of times potentially conflicting with work rules.

Create the Building Blocks of Schedules

There needs to be a clear understanding of what staff is needed and when. Then this needs to be communicated to agents in a way that they desire, push notifications from an app, text messages or any other channel they prefer. These work opportunities should be presented as “Requirements” or Time Blocks which will be visible to agents and available for them to grab time slots to work like inventory on a store shelf.

Stock the Shelves

What time blocks do you want to offer agents (15 minute, 30 minute, 1 hour, 2 hour, etc.)? Larger blocks are less efficient for volatile staffing requirements while smaller blocks offer more options for employees. Of course some time slots will be less desirable for agents to work like holidays or meal hours. Consider offering incentives for working these blocks. This could be merit increment for gamification, different pay rate, or other special incentive.

Publish the Inventory and Control Who can Access the Store

There are certain blocks of times that you may want to exclusively offer to particular groups of agents. Perhaps there is one area that should only be staffed by agents with advanced training. When stocking the selves of the gig economy, it is important to have controls in place for what employees, contractors, agents, or workers may build schedules and when they are allowed to build schedules. Considerations may include:

Automate control over when employees are allowed to start building schedules

Automate control over when employees must stop building schedules

Example strategies for managing access:

Free for all

Reward a group or groups(s) with early access as part of gamification strategy

One worker or team at a time

Request and Release Options

Agents should be free to make changes to their schedules during their time window and request and release slots as they wish. In our store analogy think of this as the inventory model: selecting apples, returning some apples to shelf, selecting some carrots, checking out. Once an employee ‘saves’ their schedule or ‘checks out’ there should be business rules that are enforced should a change need to be made. This keeps flexibility for agents and predictable continuity for the business.

The gig economy provides new opportunities for contact centers to meet staffing requirements nimbly and with less cost than hiring employees. Agents are embracing the gig economy as it provides flexible work arrangements that they have more control over. However, there are many business and legal considerations to consider before diving in head first but now is the time to lay a solid foundation for the new on demand workforce.

]]>67444What the Gig Economy Really Ishttps://blogs.aspect.com/what-the-gig-economy-really-is/
Tue, 16 Oct 2018 18:38:26 +0000http://blogs.aspect.com/?p=67374The term “Gig Economy” is used to describe many changing attitudes, standards and preferences in the way people work. Forbes definition of the Gig Economy, as it relates to attitudes about work, is the “Increased tendency for businesses to hire independent contractors and short-term workers, ...

]]>The term “Gig Economy” is used to describe many changing attitudes, standards and preferences in the way people work. Forbes definition of the Gig Economy, as it relates to attitudes about work, is the “Increased tendency for businesses to hire independent contractors and short-term workers, and the increased availability of workers for these short-term arrangements”. Our society increasingly has expectations of convenience and immediate gratification. If you want your purchase delivered next day to your door, you order it from Amazon prime. If you want your food now, without having to go and pick it up, you order from Grubhub. And if you want to staff your contact center up down in a moment’s notice, you subscribe to the principles of the Gig Economy.

The Gig Economy As It Stands Today

If you look at the entire U.S. workforce, only a very small portion of the work (less than one percent) is being done through Gig arrangements – on-demand workers doing short stint, freelance work. And of that one percent, Uber has a significant share. However, about 10 percent of the workforce does non-traditional part-time work consisting of short work stints. They do enough of them to be able to afford staying independent and consider being a freelance worker their primary job. And about 30 percent of the workforce does some smaller amount of non-traditional work, and they may have a full-time job and are just working these gigs part time.

There are some significant benefits to contact centers when it comes to hiring on demand agents:

Labor arbitrage – Ability to use less expensive workers

Avoid payroll taxes and other benefits with part-timers

More easily manage volume spikes

Wider range of workers available

Easy to downsize (seasonal ramps)

Don’t have to hire an entire FTE (full times equivalent)

Enables easy access to “specialty” workers

But agents stand to benefit as well. While gig work does not offer the benefits or stability of full time employment and making the same amount of take home pay may require getting work from multiple contact centers, many agents are attracted to gig work for the greater work/life balance and being able to pick or choose the shifts that work best for their schedules. And while compensation will vary depending on the type of support work available, some Gig contact center workers look at on-demand work as a supplement to their full-time employment. Worker benefits include:

Acquire more experience and build bigger personal networks at a faster rate

More control over careers

Offers more Work-at-Home opportunities

As the gig economy grows and expands further, contact centers will need new strategies and technologies for managing these employees. Stay tuned to the blog for how contact centers can embrace the gig economy for a win-win situation.

Unless you are a Hawaiian-based Veterinarian, you may have missed the story of the rogue Gecko dialer who dialed a Kailua-Kona, Hawaii marine mammal animal center. Apparently unfamiliar with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) which ...

Unless you are a Hawaiian-based Veterinarian, you may have missed the story of the rogue Gecko dialer who dialed a Kailua-Kona, Hawaii marine mammal animal center. Apparently unfamiliar with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) which restricts telemarketing calls via voice, SMS texts, or fax, the mischievous lizard rang the center’s main number multiple times. Or according to a Hawaiian Telecom representative, a ‘Bazillion’ times.

But when Veterinarian Claire Simeone of the Ke Kai Ola Hawaiian Monk Seal Hospital answered the phone, she wasn’t greeted with a bothersome credit card offer, or cable company offering her rich incentives to switch from the office’s current provider. Instead, she was met with complete silence. After some sleuthing around and concluding that the dialing was coming from inside the center, the source of the cavalcade of calling was a gold dust day gecko, making calls with its cute little toes.

There is no telling if the gecko was aware that the U.S. Congress enacted the TCPA in 1991 to address the growing number of telemarketing calls that were becoming increasingly disruptive to the lives of consumers and their privacy rights, or if it was willfully ignoring the law. In either case, the key takeaway here is that any marketer could use a regular refresher on TCPA compliance. Here are a few tips:

#1. Remove the capabilities that trigger the TCPA “autodial/auto-message capacity” criteria while maintaining the efficiencies lost when using other vendors’ manual dialing systems.

#2. Use advanced list and campaign management for precise routing control of consent vs. non-consent wireless numbers within the same record.

#3. Maintain your ability to take advantage of routing, tracking, and recording capabilities that are needed to meet the many non-TCPA legal requirements.

TCPA rulings are in a state of considerable flux so it helps to one, not give free-wheeling reptiles access to call lists, and two, establish a relationship with a trusted partner who can help you build and execute an outbound call strategy that eliminates the need to choose between over complying with reduced profitability or under complying while risking significant legal and financial exposure.

]]>67294Why You Should Keep Your Head in the Cloudshttps://blogs.aspect.com/why-you-should-keep-your-head-in-the-clouds/
Wed, 10 Oct 2018 12:00:10 +0000http://blogs.aspect.com/?p=67164It’s become obvious that cloud solutions are no longer just an element of the future. Many organizations are realizing that with its maturity the potential drawbacks have disappeared. Security is robust, integration with third-party solutions is seamless and reliability is a given. Gartner recently forecasted ...

]]>It’s become obvious that cloud solutions are no longer just an element of the future. Many organizations are realizing that with its maturity the potential drawbacks have disappeared. Security is robust, integration with third-party solutions is seamless and reliability is a given. Gartner recently forecasted global public-cloud revenue will grow by over 21 percent this year.

Today’s consumer demands more and expects more which means businesses must deliver convenient and consistent service while staying efficient from front to back. Customers want to do things on their own while having the ability to move to live assistance whenever they want. To stay relevant and competitive businesses are required to offer service through any channel including voice, SMS, chat and email while reducing costs. This means there are many moving parts and businesses are finding that moving to the cloud helps them meet consumer demands while providing multiple advantages including:

The ability to add new functionality seamlessly at a low cost

The ability to manage multiple contact centers at once in any location

The ability to reduce costs by eliminating the need to buy, service or upgrade legacy systems

The ability to reduce downtime with seamless software updates

The ability to scale, deploy and integrate with third-party systems easily

One of the main challenges that businesses face is keeping their contact center ahead of the competition and implementing the technologies that help them stay on top. Cloud contact center solutions can eliminate IT and departmental silos because they can seamlessly integrate with each other creating a unified experience for customers regardless of the channel. This seamless integration also enables businesses to leverage third-party CRMs and ticketing solutions such as Salesforce.com so that you have immediate access to customer data as well as interaction history and analytics.

From the agent side cloud solutions enable agents to access data from virtually anywhere across multiple departments and locations. This provides businesses with the ability to operate 24/7, so that they meet their customers’ needs anywhere and everywhere.

A cloud contact center offers multiple benefits to businesses and their customers alike. With enhanced efficiency, robust security, and seamless scalability, cloud solutions make it easier for businesses to offer the best customer experiences possible.

]]>6716410 Must Haves for Cloud-Based Customer Engagement Platformshttps://blogs.aspect.com/10-must-haves-for-cloud-based-customer-engagement-platforms/
https://blogs.aspect.com/10-must-haves-for-cloud-based-customer-engagement-platforms/#commentsWed, 03 Oct 2018 14:00:53 +0000http://blogs.aspect.com/?p=66994I’ve had a few interactions recently with customer service departments. None of them have been noteworthy. They weren’t terrible but I certainly couldn’t say that any of them were quick, convenient or exceptional interactions either. We hear a lot about bad customer service experiences because ...

]]>I’ve had a few interactions recently with customer service departments. None of them have been noteworthy. They weren’t terrible but I certainly couldn’t say that any of them were quick, convenient or exceptional interactions either. We hear a lot about bad customer service experiences because of the outrage they trigger. These stories might be repeated at the dinner table or make the news if they teeter on the outrageous. However, it is mediocre experiences that many companies have set as their standard which result in an indifferent customer base whose business is up for grabs by their competitors.

As we head into the last quarter of 2018 and start to look at 2019 priorities, cloud-based customer engagement platforms must be a serious consideration for any customer service department looking to provide better experiences and keep pace with mobile, tech-savvy, self-sufficient consumers. If you find yourself in this group, take a quick look at these must-haves a consumer engagement platform should include:

A single platform approach allows for seamless transitions from automated to live service and a tighter, easier integration with enterprise systems and workflows.

Personalized, Role-based, User Desktop

Streamlined user experience for managers, team leads and agents reflecting individual preferences, work habits and responsibilities, all available on all client devices – desktops, laptops and mobile devices.

Common UI for Configuration and Administration

A common UI across all capabilities allows administrators to provision and provide services to users based on role-based persona profiles.

Shared Real-Time and Historical Reporting

Real-time dashboards provide up-to-the-minute actionable data that can be combined with other business data sources while historical reporting and dashboards allow organizations to analyze data and uncover trends to improve operations and service strategies.